Kathmandu. Nepal has started preparing to export electricity to Bangladesh. It is planned to start electricity trade between Nepal and Bangladesh from the first week of next July.

For this, the preparation of the tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh has reached its final stage.

According to the sources, the authority is preparing to export Nepali electricity to Bangladesh from next July by signing a tripartite agreement within a week or two.

India has agreed to use India’s transmission line to bring Nepali electricity to Bangladesh. Soon, a tripartite agreement will be made on tariff rates, transmission line fares, etc. After that, Nepal’s electricity will be exported to Bangladesh through the Indian transmission line,” the source said.

It was agreed to start bilateral electricity trade at the Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting held in Bangladesh on May 2nd and 3rd. At that time, it was agreed to use the Indian transmission line to supply 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh. For that, a tripartite agreement was said to be made between Nepal Vidyut Pradhikaran, Bangladesh Power Development Board and Indian Electricity Trading Corporation (NVVN).

India also said in the energy meeting with Nepal and Bangladesh that it will cooperate in Nepal-Bangladesh electricity trade. However, there was no agreement on that. However, according to sources, the preparation of the tripartite agreement has reached its final stage.

According to the authority, the tripartite discussions are continuing, the final draft of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been prepared. It is said that Bangladesh is yet to agree. After Bangladesh agrees, it is said that there will be a tripartite agreement. Probably, there will be a tripartite agreement soon and the export of electricity will be started from July.

First of all, Bangladesh agreed to buy 40 to 50 megawatts of electricity from Nepal by last October at the energy secretary level meeting held in Kathmandu last August. It was said that both the countries would take initiative with India. However, due to lack of timely coordination with India, it was not successful. After that, at the Bangladesh-India Energy Meeting held in India a few months ago and the Nepal-India Energy Meeting held last February, India said that it would assist in this. After India promised to help, it was agreed to do bilateral trade at the Nepal Bangladesh Energy Meeting held on the first week of May last. After that, the authority is preparing to sell electricity in Bangladesh this winter.

Nepal and Bangladesh are not bordering countries. Between the borders of both countries lies the Indian land. In that case, there is an obligation to use Indian land and transmission lines to trade energy between Nepal and Bangladesh. Even if an international transmission line has to be built, Indian land should be used. Therefore, India’s cooperation in this is mandatory.

The Authority has also prepared to sell 200 MW of electricity in India from this year through a medium-term PPA (5-year term). At present, Pradhirkan is selling electricity in India’s energy exchange market through daily bidding. Now electricity is going to be sold in the Indian market for 5 years at a fixed tariff. For that, various projects have also been sent to India for approval. After it is approved, more electricity will be exported to India.